A better way to tax the rich

American wealth inequality is staggering. A wealth tax, which would hone in on the money people actually have, rather than just the money we earn and spend, could be a solution.

An astounding amount of American wealth lies with very few ultrarich people. But it isn’t taxed by the federal government. That's because most of the taxes we pay only happen when money changes hands — when we earn it or spend it.

This is what a recent proposal from Senator Elizabeth Warren tries to fix. Her plan is to tax fortunes greater than $50 million at 2 percent each year, and wealth greater than $1 billion at 3 percent. When you add it all up, those tiny slivers of massive fortunes would raise enough revenue to pay for huge programs for everyone else.

[Vox]

Would you support a wealth tax in the US? Why or why not?

[thore]

Sounds very reasonable. So it's not gonna happen in the USA

[narcolonarcolo]

Just to give some perspective: if you have $2b and your tax bill is 60 million it's like having $2000 and paying $60.

[qolumbia]

We all know all of the 200 billion would get re-"invested" into the military program instead of something good

[cxsey]

For what it’s worth they did this in France and lost billions of dollars from the rich fleeing.

[knight]

that is nice and all but the people who have the power to implement such a tax are the very ones who will be taxed

[CadetGriffin]

*Cashier* Net worth: -$4, 000


That must be Squidward.

[RaiFon]

Make a video of how to dodge wealth tax, so we can see the perspective of rich people and what they would do to dodge the tax.

[cdarioworks]

Jeff Bezos will suddenly announce that he has fallen in love with Switzerland culture, renounce his American citizenship, and yet stay as an expat 😆

[vinmin]

Vox should make a video comparing how different country's taxation systems work

[tylerhan]

Here's the problem already - its INCREDIBLY hard to get a sense of a person's assets even through audit. No doubt rich people are going to move money out overseas, to family members, and all that jazz to avoid tax. It already happens

[Poisonedblade]

The govt can provide all of these things already. It has a 4 trillion annual budget and overspends another trillion.
If it wanted to do all of these things, it would.

[Poisonedblade]

I live in CA. We have the largest economy by far, the highest taxes, the largest debt, and the highest spending.
Our schools are ranked 45th. Our roads are ranked 47th. 25% of all homeless live in CA. Our air quality is terrible. Our prisons are so full, we send convicts to other states.
The govt wastes money!

[frankcarotenuto]

If a rich person was taxed on their non-liquid assets and say their assets are predominantly non-liquid (as they usually are) would that mean they could potentially need to sell their assets to pay their taxes?

[Coupec]

It's funny that these people literally earn more from interest than they'd be

[thenoseyskeptic]

So what happens if this top 1% leaves the country?

[nigelwest]

I want to know more about that poorest person in America worth like a negative million dollars

[tobiaschaparro]

3:10 Or it could pay for some new aircraft carriers and better missiles, which is more likely to happen.

[DK]

Let’s be real, if this was to happen, every single penny would go to the military because the US is crazy

[michaelwatkins]

That wealth was already taxed when it was earned. Other countries have stopped bothering with a wealth tax, beause it brings in less than expected and increased evasion and underreporting massively.